Photo by Flickr user text_pat_color
Spring makes me feel happy, thanks to the sprouting plants in my parkway garden and along Chicago's verdant boulevards and downtown planting beds. This spring, I've been busy in MPC's "garden," recruiting and interviewing talent to join our growing team: I’m thrilled to welcome Debra Spencer as MPC’s new Government Relations Manager, and Yonah Freemark, a new Associate.
While it is always difficult to lose valued staff members, I've been reflecting on the influential roles our former colleagues have moved into, where they plant seeds that continue to flourish. I tapped our formidable database to produce a list of all the places where our former employees are making their marks. It's a terrific reminder that developing the region's leaders is a significant part of our mission.
Here's just a smattering of MPC alums:
- Alds. Will Burns (4th Ward) and Natashia Holmes (7th Ward), two rising stars in Chicago's City Council
- Municipal officials Kristi DeLaurentiis, Planning and Development Director for the south suburban Village of Lansing, Heather Gleason with the City of Chicago, and Karin Sommer with New York Mayor Bloomberg
- Roberto Requejo, now serving the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as an analyst
- Community builders Brandon Johnson, breathing new life into Washington Park, and Mary Ellen Guest, with the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association
- Strategist Emily Tapia Lopez of Resolute Consulting
- Philanthropy leaders Kate McAdams at a major family foundation, Mike Davidson at The Chicago Community Trust, and Laura Sampson at Boeing
- Planners Scott Goldstein at Teska Associates, Inc., and Sarah Wilson at Goodman Williams Group
- Columnist John McCarron, continuing to educate and energize Chicago Tribune readers and future journalists at Northwestern University
- Mike McLaughlin, bringing his formidable federal government knowledge to help the Chicago Transit Authority
- Debbie Stone, Dominic Tocci and Jane Hornstein, helping Pres. Toni Preckwinkle and Cook County be a tremendously positive force on economic and community development
- Karyn Romano and Robin Snyderman, who branched out to start their own consultancies, Metro Strategies, Inc., and Brick LLC, respectively
- Kirsten Powers, who now works for DSC Logistics, run by MPC Board member Ann Drake
- Kim Grimshaw Bolton, national communications director at New Voice Strategies
- Joanna Trotter, who just in May joined the Civic Engagement team at the University of Chicago
This feels a bit like writing a holiday letter bragging about your kids—which has not been my practice! But I am extremely proud of the tradition of growing great leaders, some whom stay and make their impact at MPC, and others whom infiltrate multiple institutions and continue to be close partners. It's a wonderful and complex family tree!